During lunch, Elizabeth allowed herself the chance to just observe him, to watch him in utter curiosity. As an artist, she sees things differently than most people and Jason made her muse jump to alert. Though her hands were itching to sketch or sculpt or even just paint him, Elizabeth wouldn't be that crazy.
No, she'll do something even crazier at the moment, she'll try to remember as much about him, promising herself to do it all later. Preferably when he's not around. While portraits aren't her strong suit, Elizabeth is almost certain that she can definitely make one of him.
"I guess, it kind of goes without saying, but I'm an artist." she explains, keeping up with the conversation while committing every detail of him to memory. "Not one of those hotshot, paid a million dollars a painting, kind of artist...but still, an artist none the less."
"That why you were going up to that lookout point?" Jason inquires, setting down his empty plate.
"Cape Cod?" she guesses that's the place he's talking about. "Yeah...that's why I was up there. Of course, I wanted to be up there earlier, but Mamma Carrie just couldn't help herself. I'm sure you've noticed how overly caring she can be."
"That's one way to put it." Jason would have called her damn near obsessive or off her meds...but overly caring was nicer.
"I know she can be a bit much...well, all the time, but she's a true sweetheart." Elizabeth assures, taking his plate to place atop of her empty one before settling back with her glass of coke. "If not for her, I probably wouldn't have this place. I came to this town two years ago with seventy-five dollars, a couple bus tokens and a duffel bag of clothes."
"You didn't grow up here?" he was truly surprised by that, especially how close she seemed with the locals.
"Nah. I'm originally from Boulder, Colorado." she admits, taking a long gulp of her soda. "The second I turned eighteen I was out the door and on the road. I did odd jobs here and there, just making enough to keep going before I was back on the road again. I haven't been back home in...wow...five years. I've pretty much been jumping from city to city, never staying anywhere for more than a couple days, couple weeks if I was working a job."
"Until you got here." it wasn't a question, merely an observation.
"Right. Until I got here." she smiles fondly, remembering the day she decided to stick around. "I kept saying one more day, one more day, and before I knew it...its been two years. I'm still trying to figure out why I chose here, but I always come up blank."
"You seem to love it here."
"I do...as much as I can anyway." she shrugs, setting down her glass. "Sooner or later I'll up and leave...like every time before...its just taking me a little longer to do it this time. That's mostly why I let Mamma Carrie do what she does...why I never say no...because I know that the time will come that I leave this place behind me and move on."
"That's funny...you don't strike me as a nomad." he comments, taking a gulp of his drink before setting it down.
"A nomad?" she looks at him curiously before letting out a throaty laugh. "I've never heard it put that way before. I guess, in a way, I'm not really."
"If you're not that, then why keep moving?"
"Why does anyone move around?" she counters, shrugging her shoulders when he doesn't respond. "I guess, in a way, I'm looking for a place in this world where I truly belong. Where I can wake up in the morning and smile knowing that I finally made it to the place my life has been leading me to. That I've finally found a place where I feel happy, free, and - most of all - alive."
Jason couldn't believe the woman that was sitting across from him right now. His initial assumption of who she is has been completely shredded. It seemed that there was more to this woman than meets to eye and that's saying a lot, all things considered.
"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" she questions, confused by the way he's looking at her.
"Not at all." he replies in a hushed tone. "I get it. The feeling of wanting to find a place you truly belong...I get that."
"So...Jason Morgan..." she smiles slightly, folding her legs beneath her. "We've been talking about me for a good stretch of time...why don't we talk about you?"
"What do you want to know?" he says a little nervously, not sure what she was going to ask him or if he'd answer it.
"What do you think I want to know?" she counters, teasing him while truly curious about what the look meant.
"I don't know." he replies, relaxing slightly. "Why do you think I asked?"
"Okay...well, I guess, I want to know what you dream of." she says simply. "What drives you...what makes you wake up in the morning to face the day?"
"I don't have any dreams." he replies, unsure why that saddened him a little, shaking his head at her confused expression. "Honestly, I don't dream."
"Everyone has a dream." she counters, really looking at him, confused that he honestly believed he didn't dream. "Something they want...something they wish for...something they hope for. Its only human to have something to dream about...something that keeps them going."
"Not me." he replies with conviction.
"Maybe you just don't know what your dream is yet...but you do have one." Elizabeth may not know him, but she could see that she's right. "Trust me. Everyone has a dream."
For the first time in his life, Jason wanted more than anything for that statement to be true. That, even if he didn't know it yet, he had a dream. A drive that keeps him that keeps him wanting, wishing, and hoping. Something that keeps him going.
"You read guidebooks?" Jason finds himself asking, noticing a couple on the side table, finding something to keep his attention while she's putting the dishes away.
"Mostly just of Italy." Elizabeth replies, walking back into the living room. "Its a temptation of mine...I've always wanted to go there, but I've never had enough to get that far."
"What other places would you like to visit?" Jason sets the books down before looking at her.
"Hmm...I guess I'd love to see the sunset over the pyramids of Egypt, the jungles of Africa in midday, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris at night." she ticks off her list, walking back to sit on the couch. "Mostly just places I'd love to paint or sketch...those are places I'd love to be. Here, I'll show a couple."
Before he could tell her that he could hardly see art in any shape or form, Elizabeth bounds out of the room to grab a few canvases and was back before he could utter a word. Sitting down beside him, she proceeds to show him piece after piece. A part of him wondered if she knew he couldn't see the pictures because she started explaining them to him and, before he knew it, the pieces started to come together.
"This one is of the Christmas Tree lighting at the state capital." Elizabeth explains, showing him where the brush strokes tick off the edges of the tree. "I was able to get to the front and this was the beauty that was created. The various lights blending together to make it truly beautiful."
"What year did you go there?" Jason questions, remembering that he, too, has seen the lighting of the Christmas tree at the state capital.
"Hmm...oh, duh!" Elizabeth shakes her head, flipping the painting over. "2000...why?"
"I was there." Jason admits, wondering if he had seen her in passing. "I stood in the front, too."
"Wow...strange." she looks at him curiously, shaking her head before moving on to the next painting. "This one is of the Grand Canyon just after dawn. You can probably tell where I was standing, if you've been there, I painted it from the length of the canyon. I think its more magnificent that way."
"I know the spot you mean." Jason concedes, having stood in that very spot when he went to the canyon. Something had took him to that spot, he just never knew what.
"Anyway, those are just a few of the paintings I've done." Elizabeth sets them aside, turning to look at him. "I've sold pieces here and there, various pieces even hang in a few galleries across the country, but mostly I've kept my art to myself."
"Why? They're really good." he comments, seeing a complex emotion shadowing her eyes.
"Because of my dream..." she says with a slight smile. "My dream is to open my own art gallery one day and have my art hanging on the walls for all to see...as you can tell, I'm nowhere near that yet, but I will. I'll get there and it'll be because of me...because I made it happen and because I worked hard to get it."